Wednesday afternoon, Major League Baseball apologized to the Kansas City Royals for an error and missed reply Tuesday night against the Cleveland Indians.

The play, a double play which should have been called out at first after the turn, was reviewed but overruled by officials after a review which made it perfectly clear the baseball win in first baseman Eric Hosmer’s glove before Jose Ramirez’s foot touched the bag.

The missed call at first base resulted in what arguably cost the Royals the game, as the next batter hit into what should have been a force-out, but instead would have been a double play, but Omar Infante bobbled the ball when dishing to Alcides Escobar at second base.

The next batter for the Indians was a single to center, which scored the runner at third and led to an Indians 2-1 victory.

MLB said the “super slow motion view” was delayed in getting to the replay in New York, so the umpires in Kansas City had to render a decision without the proper information.

This is one of many blown calls and replay debates which fuel inextinguishable fire of whether or not instant replay in sports will every truly work the way it’s intended.

The human error in sports is an integral part of what makes the game what it is today, but technology has changed the ability to review seemingly every aspect of the game.

Still, nothing is perfect, and there will likely always be circumstances in which, even under review, umpires or officials won’t get it right.

If you’re the Royals, at the end of the day what’s an apology really mean after losing a game which would have put you a half game in first place above the streaking Minnesota Twins.

Kansas City is now 29-20 on the season and still holding strong in first place, but the bats have gone cold recently in losing six of its last seven games. Even the pitching has struggled, particularly in seeing Wade Davis give up his first run of the year.

Baseball is fickle in an almost brutal way. The ebbs and flows throughout the season and the ability to recover from losing streaks is what separates contenders and pretenders.

The Royals will look to redeem themselves tonight when they take on the Indians (barring a rainout) at Kauffman Stadium.

About This Author

John moved to Kansas from Northern California to study Journalism at the University of Kansas. Since 2004, he has covered Kansas Basketball and basketball recruiting for rivals.com, as well as some basketball recruiting coverage for Ohio State, both of which included several guest radio spots for KJHK university radio and KUsports.com podcasts. John is a certified personal trainer and currently trains at two facilities in the Overland Park area.